I do not know what the Government are up to with regard to the second and third elections, and as I am a bear of very little brain, I see no point in trying to unravel what they are attempting to do in the second and third elections until we know what they are doing in the first. As the Chinese say, “On long journey, first step most important.”

I am a bear of very little brain, but it seems to me that the Government’s proposal within such an equation could be a recipe for cutting rather than increasing the budget, as, if one concentrates on sticks rather than carrots, one offers no incentive to an authority whose heart is patently in the right place.

I am a bear of very little brain. The fact that I had some difficulty in being absolutely certain about the rights of people in the vicinity of premises suggests that it is just possible that others living in the vicinity of those licensed premises may have the same difficulty in being absolutely certain of their rights.

I am a bear of very little brain and, although I heard what the Minister said about regional planning guidance that was omitted from the generality of the list, I want to test my understanding. Is it simply a matter of chronology that the regional spatial strategy has already been dealt with by the mayor and is shortly to be published, so that the documents that have been eliminated become academic once the mayor has taken his action?

Lord Rooker(Minister of State (Regeneration and Regional Development), Office of the Deputy Prime Minister; Labour)

The Minister quoted two-thirds of a famous quotation by Mr Sherlock Holmes where he said, “These are deep waters, Watson”. I am a bear of very little brain and I am therefore perfectly happy to play the role of Dr Watson in listening to what the Minister has to say.

I am a bear of very little brain but late at night on the first night in Committee I revealed that I had served on the Budget Council of the European Union for four years. During those four years we knew when we had won an argument and when we had not. I agree that some victories are not clear cut. In the War of the Spanish Succession, Ramillies and Bleinheim were clearly profound victories, Oudenarde and Malplaquet were more doubtful.

I am a bear of very little brain, there is the faintest possible ambiguity in the noble Lord’s amendment. I think I know what he will say but, to put it beyond peradventure, does his amendment mean that the crime prevention plan should be moved before or after the ordinary election to which it refers?

This is a real eye-opener. It just goes to show that some people can go on to become Members of Parliament and Lords of the Realm without ever realising that a saying that ‘made Nanny laugh’ is now risible for an entirely different reason.

It’s a very non-confrontational British way of doing things. What he’s really saying is “I don’t agree with you”. What he’s overtly asking for is more information to help him understand why anyone would propose such a thing. He’s doing it in a self-effacing self-mocking way – a very British trait. And he’s also quoting from one of Britain’s most well-loved and well-read books. On average he uses it once a year. Hardly the worst excess in either house in recent years.